The UltraReef Akula 180 is the last cconception of skimmers according to the Milanese builder. We tested it deeply and we agreed that’s one of the best skimmer we’ve had in our hands.
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italiano
We tried it in an aquarium of 450 liters, at the beginning dedicated to fish, then it’s hosting SPS. So the organic load is already high and it’ll probably be even higher.
The first thing that hit us was the very high quality of the construction. We’ve seen all the skimmers released by UltraReef, and we can say this is the nirvana among all those built! We don’t know how it can be improved again!
Technical characteristics UltraReef Akula UKS 180
Dimensions
Length: 19 cm
Width: 25 cm
Height: 55,5 cm
Consumption: ~25 watt
Flow rate: ~1.400 l/h
Air rate: 700/800 l/h
Price: 595 euro
Construction
The construction of the UltraReef Akula uks-180 is excellent. It hasn’t any flaws and the matching between plastics is absolutely perfect.
It works according to a classic scheme but with the bonus of an inner pump. The pump is a Sicce PSK1000+ that works a few cm from the bottom of the sump, with insertion in water from below, because the pump is held up, as you can see in the following picture. So the water is pulled inside a circular perforated diffuser that gets the flow inside the central body of the skimmer.
The body of the skimmer has a diameter about 18 cm and it’s 55 cm of height, glass included, for a total volume, glass excluded, approximately equal to 9 liters.
The glass has a diameter of 17,4 cm, with an inner cylinder of 10 cm. The height useful to the filling is 11,3 cm, so the glass has a useful head of 1,8 liters. Anyway, it’s practically impossible to fill it until the level, because at that point the glass would have so much sediment that it would slow the skimming, making it inefficient.
The assembly of the Ultra Reef Akula uks-180 skimmer, even if it may seem complex, is very simple and allows to completely disassemble the skimmer. The cylinder has to be put over the base where the pump is inserted. Then you complete with the drain. The glass is inserted in the body through a spectacular seal that guarantees an optimal hydraulic seal.
The glass is extremely heavy and solid and really, really well built. Moreover, we have a big difference with the past models. In fact the inner cylinder of 10 cm, can be easily picked out, leaving the glass easy to be cleaned.
The pump supplied with the Ultra Reef Akula uks-180 is a Sicce PSK 1000+, a very trustful pump and used with a lot of skimmers on the market.
Given that it’s a mono-pump configuration we don’t have to care about the quantity of water entering the skimmer and the water-air relationship already decided for us. The suggested level for the sump must be about 20 cm, including heights between 19 and 22 cm.
The functioning scheme is very simple. Water and air are mixed and enter the body of the pump from below, that will mix and diffuse them in the cylinder. As always, simplicity is a virtue. In fact, the skimmer work very well and it’s very linear in its functioning.
The only way to intervene on the calibration of the Ultra Reef Akula uks-180 is by rotating the pommel on the drain pipe, once found the right amount of exiting water, you can fix it using the small pommel.
Set up
The set up is very easy, because you don’t have to make a choice. You take the UltraReef Akula UKS 180 and put in sump. Sic et Simpliciter as the Latins said.
The drain is down the water level so it works very quietly.
The article continues on page two with functioning, performances and measurements we’ve done.
